Australia Post releases
Australian Poultry Breeds stamps
By: Greg Davies, Australia
Since European settlement of Australia, poultry has been part of the
domestic landscape of country areas. Historically, hen-keeping was also
common in many towns and once again it is on the rise of urban
environments. Many imported heritage and hybrid breeds can be found
in backyards and on farms around the country, but there are four
specifically Australian breeds of fowl that have been developed since
settlement: Australian Game, Australian Pit Game, Australorp and
Australian Langshan. This stamp issue celebrated these breeds.
The Australorp is by far the best known Australian chicken.
They were developed using primarily original William Cook type Orpingtons and
Australian Langshans. Then known as the Australian Orpington, this became the
Austral Orpington and finally, the Australorp. There was much dissent between
the various states of Australia as to a standard and it was not until 1949 that an
Australian Standard was finally
agreed to, at a meeting of
state delegates, called by
Edwin Hadlington (the NSW
Government Poultry Expert).
This Standard was adopted
almost word perfectly by the
British Poultry Club in its Book
of British Poultry Standards.
Above: Postcard with Australorp and stamp.
Right: Australorp male. Photo: Greg Davies.
The illustrations for this first Australian Standard
were of a cockerel bred by Jim O'Malley of Queanbeyan and a hen owned by the late Claude Ubrihien of Bega.
The Australorp is one of the World's finest utility
breeds and proved itself in laying trials for many
years. In 1963 it was honoured at the World
Poultry Congress being depicted on medals and
stamps. The breed was recognised as the single
most important utility breed ever developed.
Right: Australorp female. Photo: Greg Davies.
The Australorp could best be described as a bird of
curves. There should be nothing angular about
these chickens at all. The back should be long and
concave, sweeping gracefully up to the tail. A most
striking feature of the Australorp is its big, bold,
black eye, which sits in the centre of a clear, open,
bright red face. The face has no signs of coarseness and any hint of "beetle brows" should be
eliminated. The plumage should be glossy black
with a rich beetle-green sheen and tight, not loose
and fluffy as with Orpingtons.
It is a wonderful show bird, often winning major
awards. It is quiet and docile and may be had in
both large and bantams. Black is the true colour,
but today also blue and white Australorps are bred.
The Australian Game originated as a fighting
fowl.
Its ancestry includes Old English Game, Malay
Game and the Aseel. They were in great demand
as they possessed great courage and stamina in
the pit, yet were gentle and quite tame towards
their owners. Of course those fowls were much different to the ones we see
today.
Because of the use of Malay Game in the breeding, many birds were bred which
were too leggy for fighting. At this time, the craze in the British chicken fraternity
was for long legged birds, such as the Modern
Game and Modern Langshan. With the
infusion of Modern Game and Malay blood the
long legged "Colonial" Game soon became
popular as a show bird and the development
of what we now call the Australian Game
began.
The greatest stalwart of the Australian Game
was Mark Marshall, who wrote in his book,
'The King of Fowls' in 1941, "His close
plumage; fitting his body like wax, his
hardness of feather and upright carriage, and
his great size and stately bearing make him a
fowl to be wondered at." I recommend this
book to anyone wishing to learn more about
the Australian gamefowl breeds.
The body of the Australian Game should be
cone shaped, with no hint of flatness in the
wings or wedginess in the breast. Unlike the
Malay Game, they should have a flat back.
The feathering is exceptionally hard and close
fitting, with a minimum of down. They should
be a balanced fowl, with nice proportions and
massive size.
Bantams have also been developed in a range
of colours.
Left: Australian Game. Photo: Greg Davies.
Above: Postcards with stamp. Left: Australian Game and Australian Pit Game
(right).
The Australian Pit Game originated as a fighting fowl, initially developed
by British Army personnel stationed in the then colony of New South
Wales.
The present day fowl is descended directly from the Australian Fighting Game,
which were blended from crosses of the Old English
Game and the Aseel, Malay and perhaps Sumatra
Game.
The British preferred birds which fought in the air,
light, quick and with deadly power. Such birds
fought bouts which ended very quickly. Other
Game fowl enthusiasts preferred more prolonged
battles, opting for birds which were larger and
fought savagely on the ground. From these two
distinct types of fowls, came the Australian Fighting
Game, which combined the best fighting skills of
both types of fowl.
Left: Australian Pit Game male.
Photo: Greg Davies.
Due to this variation in bloodlines, the Australian
Pit Game comes in a wide variety of sizes and
shapes. Those strains which were built upon the
Old English Game lines are generally single combed
with longer, more profuse feathering. The larger,
leggier types developed from more Asian bloodlines
are generally pea combed with harder, sparser
feathering.
The important points in Pit Games are good eyes
and keen sight, strong head and powerful beak,
wide strong shoulders and strong legs and feet.
They must have a cone shaped body, with strong
muscular breast and thighs, strong shanks with
sound feet and toes. The chicks can be quite
aggressive at a very early age and great care is
needed to prevent mortalities due them fighting
among themselves in the brooder.
The finer details such as comb shape, colouring
and feather type and quality are deemed of less
importance, due to the variations of bloodlines as
mentioned above.
They come in large and bantam, with some
varieties displaying muffing, tassels and hen
feathering. Most Game colours are found, but this
feature is of little importance in the show pen.
Right: Australian Pit Game female.
Photo: Greg Davies.
The Australian (or Chinese) Langshan was
developed by a small number of breeders in
New South Wales.
Primarily, Croad Langshans, Modern Langshans,
Wakfer Chinese Langshans and the true William
Cook type Orpingtons were used in the
development of the Australian Langshan. Wakfer
Langshans were brought to Australia from China in 1905.
By 1920, classes at some shows were being put on for the Australian Langshan,
(which for some obscure reason had been named Chinese Langshans) and the
distinct type was beginning to become standardised. The first breed standard
was drawn up in 1920 by the newly formed Langshan Club of Australia.
Left: Australian Langshan, male.
Below: Australian Langshan bantam,
female. Photos: Greg Davies.
The Langshan could be described as a bird of V's. This V shape should be
apparent from almost any angle from which the bird is viewed. The comb is fine
and angles upward and away from the neck line. The eye is dark and bold and
should almost appear to protrude. The foot feather should not be too profuse and
the middle toe should be clear of any feathering. Generally, the plumage should
be tight and with a medium amount of down. They are available in black, white
and blue, with blacks the most
popular and finest in quality.
The blacks carry a glossy
beetle-green
sheen,
whites
should be snowy with no hint of
straw or cream colouring, while
the blues are laced as in
Andalusians.
Left: The Australian Langshan
was portrayed in the pack, but
not as a stamp.
Today, Australian Langshans
are a very popular show bird,
more often than not, winning
major
awards.
They
are
extremely good layers that
have excellent feed to egg ratio, are easily tamed and are a wonderful, all-round
utility fowl. They come as both large and bantam.
To be complete: There are also two Australian Duck breeds,
being the Elizabeth Duck and the Watervale duck.
The Elizabeth duck: Originated in
1972, Merrilands NSW (Australia) by
Lance Ruting. Parents were "farm yard"
ducks. Chosen for breeding a small,
quick growing meat duck. Classification
is ‘ornamental duck’.
Above: Elizabeth duck, male.
Right: Elizabeth duck, female.
Photos courtesy Andy Vardy,
www.backyardpoultry.com
The Watervale duck: Originated in
1988 from a pair of Cayugas, South
Australia by Mr Holder of Watervale. It
is a mutant recessive colour bred by
fanciers. Classification is ‘heavy duck’.
Right: Watervale duck, female.
Below: Watervale duck, male.
Photos courtesy Andy Vardy,
www.backyardpoultry.com
If you want to purchase the complete set of stamps or just a few
stamps or postcards, you can order them here and they’ll send them
to you: http://shop.auspost.com.au/search?keyword=poultry
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